Share NCHH's Flood Cleanup Guide with a Friend Today

Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane, arrived in the U.S. from the Gulf of Mexico August 25 and dropped an unprecedented amount of water on Texas' eastern shores, as well as Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States.

Two weeks later, on September 10, Hurricane Irma (also Category 4) made landfall in Florida, bringing devastatingly high winds and rain to the state. A third hurricane, Maria, has devastated the island of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.

Several thousand homes and businesses were destroyed by Harvey, Irma, and Maria; more may be destroyed by additional hurricanes and tropical storms expected this fall; and still thousands more will sustain varying levels of wind and water damage. Some of those families and business owners will struggle to determine what within their homes and businesses can be salvaged and what must be thrown away.

Congratulations to the 15 Finalists of the Lead Poisoning Prevention Awareness Community Mini-Grant Competition

The National Center for Healthy Housing is pleased to announce the finalists of the recent lead poisoning prevention awareness community mini-grant competition. We received many exciting applications ‎– 91 applications from 30 states and the District of Columbia in total. Due to the volume and high quality of applications received, the selection committee increased the number of awards from 10 to 15.

These mini-grants will help communities in advancing their understanding and support of lead poisoning prevention. They are intended to help gather community members and decision-makers to engage in a dialogue around actions that can advance local lead poisoning prevention efforts. Read more about the finalists and the innovative ways in which they are inspiring both conversation and action in their communities.

Are you hosting a lead poisoning prevention event in your community? Whether or not you’re a grantee, there are many useful resources that can help you to plan and execute an impactful event. You can start with these helpful guides or check back in September for more resources.

Flint and Beyond: Lead Poisoning Remains a Critical Public Health Issue

As the lead-in-water crisis in Flint, Michigan continues to evolve, NCHH joins the nation in supporting the residents of Flint in their time of need. Resources must be marshaled as quickly as possible to ensure a safe water supply and provide follow-up services to address the long-term consequences of lead poisoning. We need to take the lessons from this crisis to improve our public policies so that no other communities have to experience what the residents of Flint are going through.

Due to the media attention generated by the crisis in Flint, NCHH has received many inquiries about lead poisoning and what parents can do to protect their children. Many have told us that they thought that the problem of lead was solved decades ago. The truth is that industry mined massive quantities of lead over the last century and put that lead into many products that went into our homes, including pipes and solder, paints and glazes, and other consumer products. Although lead was banned from new residential paint in 1978 and from new plumbing in 1986, residents may still be exposed to lead from products that remain in older homes. Lead was also added to gasoline for on-road use until 1996, and as vehicles burned the gas, the lead was left behind in the dust and soil in our communities.

After decades of sustained research and action, the percentage of children who have been lead-exposed is much lower than it was in the 1980s. Yet lead exposure remains a threat for far too many people.

To learn more about the issue of lead in water, the role NCHH has played in the fight against lead poisoning, and what every parent should know to protect their families from lead exposure, click here.